Quality of life and psychosocial risks in primary care workers in an urban area.

Abstract

Health workers are exposed to a wide variety of risks in their workplaces, including psychosocial risks, which are increasingly taking on special importance, with primary health care being little studied in this area, despite having taken great responsibilities in the COVID-19 pandemic. To analyze the relationship between psychosocial risks and quality of life in health team workers in Family Health Centers Antofagasta, Chile, in 2021, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a quantitative study, analytical, descriptive, cross-sectional type with 78 workers from the Primary Care health team of three Family Health Centers in the city of Antofagasta. The Superintendência de Seguridad Social/Instituto Sindical de Trabajo, Ambiente y Salud 21 brief version and the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument-Abbreviated version instrument were applied. The presence of a globally high psychosocial risk stands out, being this classified as high risk/level 1. The professional groups with the highest risks were nursing technicians and nurses; regarding quality of life, the dimension with the lowest score was psychological health, with a mean of 73.6. A negative relationship between psychosocial risks in the workplace and workers' quality of life was evidenced In this hostile scenario, it is imperative that nurses, at a tactical and strategic level, promote workers' health, cultivate healthy work environments, promote labor relations, and exercise more empathetic leadership as care managers.